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Warwickshire customer Andrew receives funding for a social visit each week, but is unfortunately unable to receive support towards transport. Andrew is dependent on a large motorised wheelchair, which means that the cost for him to visit his local town centre for the day costs around £50, and he is unable to access community transport due […]
Real-life stories from our customers and carers
Inspirational stories from the people we support and the carers that enable them to live as independently as possible.
Alpaca Therapy: Lawrie’s Story
24 March by Lauren KnowlesLawrie started to receive support from the Helping Hands Shrewsbury and Telford Team in 2019 following a sepsis infection. After a number of weeks in hospital, Lawrie was able to return home, but the sepsis had left long-lasting effects on his overall wellbeing and he was unable to care for himself. However, when they were […]
Shout out to the York Team for making Katie’s Little Mix wish come true
22 November by Laura Belford-ThomasThe Helping Hands York Care Team have made one of their customer’s wishes come true by taking her to a Little Mix concert. Katie, who lives with cerebral palsy, was surprised by the tickets after branch Care Coordinator, Nik, managed to acquire tickets generously provided by the First Direct Arena in Leeds. This enabled Katie […]
Building up confidence with a carer in Basildon
7 November by Laura Belford-ThomasDennis, a customer looked after by our Basildon team, had spent quite a bit of time not wanting to go out much before we started care with him. He was unsteady on his feet and needed support mobilising safely in and around the house. Dennis was quite withdrawn and didn’t have the confidence to go […]
Building connections with live-in care: Pete & Madelene’s story
7 November by Laura Belford-ThomasPete is 37 years old and living with cerebral palsy, and following a long spell in hospital, he began receiving live-in support from our central team. From a man who was once lacking in confidence with very little speech, Pete is now living happily and independently at home with the support of his live-in carer, […]
Fresh air in Southend-on-sea
28 October by Laura Belford-ThomasCare isn’t always just about supporting someone with the practicalities; it can be something as simple as popping in once a day to have a chat over a cup of tea or accompanying someone to the local park for some fresh air. This is exactly what Amanda, a carer from Southend-on Sea, did for her […]
Living with dementia: Ken’s story
27 September by Lauren KnowlesKen was diagnosed with vascular dementia following a stroke in 2015. He began receiving visiting support from our Sheffield branch in 2018 after he fell in the changing rooms following his regular swimming sessions. “I’ve been going swimming regularly since 2014, but after some time it became a problem. When I got into the changing […]
Swindon customer enjoys the ‘Greatest Day’ at Take That concert
12 September by Laura Belford-ThomasJulie, a carer at the Swindon branch of Helping Hands, supports a young lady called Kirsty, who has autism. Kirsty’s favourite band is Take That, and when they went on tour earlier this year, she was desperate to go and see them. This is where her carer Julie stepped in; she accompanied Kirsty to the […]
Helping a customer with dementia in Basingstoke
9 September by Laura Belford-ThomasOne of the carers at the Basingstoke branch has gone above and beyond the call of duty for a customer living with dementia. Carer Louise spent some of her care calls exploring the places her customer had travelled to in his younger years via Google Maps. As Louise’s customer struggled to navigate his way around […]
ME and Me: Naomi’s Story
1 July by Lauren KnowlesMeet Naomi: a bright, adventurous and talented woman who studied for her PhD at Cambridge University. In 2006, Naomi suffered a stroke which subsequently left her living with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) – also referred to as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Here, Naomi tells us her story in her own words and explains how, with the […]
